Implementing teaching according to the STSE model on the topic “Water In Life” to foster students' scientific literacy

Abstract

Despite the global advancement of competency-based science education, the teaching of the topic “Water in Life” in Vietnamese lower secondary schools remains anchored in a transmission-based paradigm that emphasizes the isolated transfer of theoretical properties of water and rarely engages students with the technological, societal, and environmental dimensions of authentic water-related problems. To address this pedagogical gap, the present study designs, implements, and evaluates a five-step instructional process grounded in the Science, Technology, Society, and Environment (STSE) model for fostering scientific literacy among sixth-grade students. The proposed process comprises: (Step 1) Motivation and Issue Presentation, in which a real-life socioscientific water problem (e.g., a household water bill or polluted river footage) is introduced to elicit student engagement; (Step 2) Science Exploration, in which learners investigate the fundamental scientific knowledge underpinning the issue; (Step 3) Technology Investigation, in which they examine technological applications such as water-treatment and water-saving devices; (Step 4) Societal and Environmental Analysis, in which the multidimensional impacts of the issue are critically appraised; and (Step 5) Decision-Making and Action, in which students synthesize STSE knowledge to design and implement feasible solutions. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed over ten weeks with 144 sixth-grade students drawn from two lower secondary schools in Hanoi, complemented by two cycles of action research within the experimental group. The reliability and construct validity of the pretest and posttest were established through Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.75 and α = 0.79) and Item Response Theory analyses (Test Information Function and Wright Map). One-way ANCOVA, controlling for pretest scores, revealed a statistically significant superiority of the experimental group over the control group on posttest scientific literacy (F(1, 141) = 74.244, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.345), indicating a large effect size. Qualitative evidence triangulated from classroom observations, teacher journals, semi-structured interviews, and student artifacts corroborated marked improvements across the three PISA-defined components of scientific literacy. The findings provide empirical support for the STSE five-step process as a scalable and contextually adaptable pedagogical framework for cultivating scientifically literate citizens in transitional education systems such as Vietnam's.